3 Books to Fuel Your Outside 365 Stoke
Grand Combin, Verbier, Switzerland
It's easy to launch into a new project or goal, such as Outside 365, with your stoke levels absolutely through the freaking roof. At the outset, you might be energetic and utterly committed to the goal of getting outside and moving your body at least one mile every single day. But then the doldrums of winter might hit, or you might realize that somedays, this goal is actually way harder than you thought it might be.
In these low moments, the second best thing you can do, after you tell your excuses to fuck off, is to find some inspiration to fuel your fire. Hopefully this blog can serve as your first stop for finding inspiration and excitement to keep tackling this worthy goal.
Online articles are great so far as they go, but sometimes a deeper dive with a richer and more complex story arc will provide you with a much longer-lasting inspiration that can fuel you not just for today but for years to come. Yes, I'm talking about books.
While the writings of long-dead naturalists can definitely help stoke your fire, we're currently enjoying a surge of scientific studies and modern literature that are not only opining on the experience of being in nature, but they're providing why nature benefits us so much.
It's one of my personal projects to stay abreast of the best literary work in this field, and while not every book that's been published on the topic has been a winner (Last Child in the Woods comes to mind), here are three modern works that are guaranteed to fuel your Outside 365 stoke, even when you're feeling down.
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
By Florence Williams
This groundbreaking work by Florence Williams, published in 2017, provides an in-depth and superbly-written overview of the ongoing, cutting-edge scientific research into human flourishing and how it is improved by nature exposure. With an engaging narrative style, she dissects complex research and makes it approachable. The current research covers everything from mental health and PTSD recovery to physical fitness, creativity, and so much more.
This book is a must-read, but at the time of this writing in 2022, it's possible that it might start to sound dated. I read this book several years ago, and I'm curious to know where some of the research at the time Williams penned the book culminated. Also, I found the conclusion to be a bit lackluster, without any motivational gusto attached to it. This could be Williams' commitment to solely communicating science, but it led me to pen this short article in 2019.
The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self
By Michael Easter
After I published my "How to Break the American Addiction to Comfort" article, two different readers reached out and recommended that I read Michael Easter's new book, The Comfort Crisis. Recently published in 2021, it feels like Easter might be referencing some of the concluded research that Williams reported on back in 2017. The Nature Fix is still well-worth the read, but consider The Comfort Crisis the perfect sequel.
The Comfort Crisis isn't nearly as focused on hardcore science. Instead, it reads like a cross between a series of magazine articles and a short memoir. These two types of writing are masterfully interwoven, creating a superb tome that's gripping from start to finish. If there's any single book that I've read that can almost entirely sum up my philosophy regarding human's relationship to nature, it is this one.
I wholeheartedly recommend the Comfort Crisis to any reader who resonates with the writing found here on Outside 365.
On Trails: An Exploration
By Robert Moor
On Trails might be the best installment in the genre of naturalist literature that we will see published in our lifetime. The writing is mind-bendingly spectacular and gripping from start to finish. Moor is an absolute artist with his prose, and this 2016 book has now won an entire trove of awards.
Essentially, On Trails chronicles the history of trails, from prehistoric times all the way to the digital trails left on the World Wide Web. But the bulk of the book focuses on the type of trails that we know and love, with much of the narrative revolving around Moor's Appalachian Trail through hike.
After reading On Trails, you'll look at every trail you hike or bike differently. I even learned new concepts while reading On Trails that I still notice and think about in the real world, even years after having first read the book.
If I'm due for a re-read of any of the three books above, it is this one.
Have you read any other fantastic books that have fueled your Outside 365 fire? Reply to my email newsletter or slide into my DMs and let me know!
